Following the path of an object commonly used
and socially implanted in modern culture, Caroline Knowles presents in her book
Flip-flop: a journey through the paths of
globalization an ethnographic analysis based on the Flip-Flop journey. By
investigating the Flip Flops from their creation until their elimination,
Knowles reveals that there is a whole world behind these pairs of sandals. In
fact, as she recounts the journey of these ‘ordinary’ objects in the 21st
century, she demonstrates that these shoes can also be seen as a ‘critical mass
and mass appeal across social spectrums and continents’ (Knowles 2014: 2).

Therefore, through the biographical study of
these Flip-Flops which “sales rise with world population” (Knowles,
2015: 1), this author tends to explain that these shoes and all that is
associated with them can to be a source of reflection on important topics such
as globalization, repair or environmental knowledge. More so, Knowles
challenges the notion of globalization that does not focus solely on the
restrictive principles developed by theorists like John Urry (Urry 2010) and
Manuel Castells (Urry 2010; Castells 1996). Thus, Knowles shows in his book that
globalization goes beyond the preconceived and static idea that is made of it:
it incorporates phenomena, objects, people and other components that undo and
reshape the principles and limits of this notion.

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This review essay will try to illuminate the
more or less implicit key points that have been raised by Knowles, such as
material culture, the value of objects, or the link between the materials used
and what they reveal about the reality of globalization.

Background
and summary of the book:

Throughout
her book, Caroline Knowles followed the ‘journey’ of a pair of flip-flops
through a very broad “road of globalization” (Knowles 2014: 13).
Based on a six-year study in five different countries, it presents an original
and concise approach to an object that we all take for granted: flip-flops.
Indeed, by taking these as an object of study, Knowles shows that these sandals
are objects that are socially invisible for some and indispensable for others.
Flip-flops, by their omnipresence in society, are therefore a subject that is
more complex to deal with than it appears: in fact, they incorporate a
multitude of actors and issues in their production. Caroline Knowles, who is a
professor of sociology at Goldsmiths University, will then use a spatial and
biographical method to study the circulation of flip-flops and people across
multiple cities and countries. This will not be the first time this method of
analysis has been used by her: in her previous writings Knowles uses this methodological
tool to analyse the circulation of objects or social actors across countries.
Such was the case in Hong Kong: Migrant Lives, Landscapes and Journeys where
Knowles will follow the migration

On the
other hand, Knowles uses, through her book, a multi-sided ethnographic research
between different degrees of macro and micro analysis, and by superimposing the
economic, social and political dimensions to the daily lives of the actors and
the travels incurred by the Flip -Flop.

From
the first pages, the author begins by introducing the relationship between the
manufacture of flip-flops, plastic and the consequences that this has on their
price. The Flips-flops owe their expansion in the daily life of Humans thanks
to the plastic, which is a very popular and cheap material. However, Knowles
tells two things about flip-flops: these sandals, which are originally created
through oil have no recycling value. On the other hand, if these shoes look
simple in appearance, the background that there is last their production,
transport and disposal is actually very complicated. These shoes made of
plastic, actually include a multitude of issues and actors that are associated
with their implementation.

In
Chapter 2, Knowles really begins the ‘flip-flop trail’ by introducing a
geopolitical and social analysis of where the plastic comes from. It is based
in Kuwait, which is a major producer and exporter of Oil in the Middle East
(Knowles, 2014: 21). However, Knowles shows us the fragility of the country by
presenting us the social and security difficulties associated with it. If oil
shapes Kuwait and its inhabitants because it “makes its impressive GDP
(gross domestic product); However, oil is not a renewable natural resource for
the sake of knowledge. “(Knowles, 2014: 21). The social structure developed
around this hydrocarbon (jobs, standard living) is therefore not stable and
eternal. Knowles continues his story by telling the stories of Kuwaitis and
migrants who live with oil and shape globalization through their migratory
flows. In Chapter 3, the author follows the oil and globalization road by
traveling to the city of Daesan in South Korea. She then observes the
importance of oil in the realization and development of giant companies such as
Samsung or Total. Yet Knowles reveals that these companies remain discreet
about their management of this hydrocarbon and are difficult to access. Knowles
shows that Korea operates on a system that is based on the oil that supplies
the country. On the other hand, it follows a more ‘social’ approach by observing
the lives of plant workers who make plastic from petrochemicals. It then
exposes the effects of globalization on the Korean social system and contrasts
these effects with the challenges present in this society (for example, the
hierarchy of people, the division of the sexes, or the rural-urban migration of
Koreans).

The
book continues the plastic journey by going to Fuzhou in southeastern China. In
Chapters 4, 5 and 6, Knowles follows the plastic expedition in China and
analyzes the production system of these sandals which is established in the
cities near Fuzhou. Through his observations, the author exposes us two facts:
“Chinese flip- fl op manufactures is the story of China” because
billions of Flip-flops are made in Fuzhou thanks to the plastic balls from
Korea. This kind of production has therefore built China’s economy. In
addition, she demonstrates that “flip flop manufactures lives alongside
this world on the same zeitgeist, the same idea that things can be made as a
way of making a life. Factory workers make flip-flops as they manufacture their
own lives. Based on this statement, Knowles studies the daily lives of people
involved in the manufacturing process of these sandals made of plastic. His
observations cover a range of individuals with distinct social statuses,
ranging from workers in factories who are rural migrants, to
“interlocutors” accessing world markets in Fuzhou City. By more
accurately analysing the lives of people, Knowles notes that these people as
well as the industrial villages that are erected around them are
“fabricated in plastic and by plastic”. Yet, she ends up showing that
while plastic has helped China grow and flip-flop production has enriched many
people, these two sources of enrichment are mobile. The production of Flip-Flops
is now in the process of migrating to Vietnam, to Sudan, to Egypt, to Ethiopia
and other parts of the African continent. Improvements in working conditions
and wages in China will drive this low-value object into other lives and into
other locations. Thus, Knowles shows us that the production that ensures the
low cost of flip-flops is moving towards new, cheaper countries: this economic
process that is encouraged by globalization is therefore a factor of
instability for many people who depend of this production.

In
Chapter 7, Knowles leaves China to go to Ethiopia. This country, which has a
low GDP and a population of 84 million, is an important market for the Chinese.
The author then tells how these shoes return to Ethiopia by paths that are more
or less official. There are two routes that carry the Flips-Flops: official
routes, which include the payment of import duties and taxes; and the hidden
roads that smuggle Ethiopia’s sandals to Somaliland.

In the
next chapter, Knowles tells the story of Abbis-Ababa’s flip-flop vendors. She
notes that there is a convergence of tracks she has seen and that leads to
kiosks on the giant outdoor market – the “mercato” of Abbis Ababa, in
Ethiopia.